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    The Black Tongue
    The Black Tongue
    The Black Tongue
    Audiobook8 hours

    The Black Tongue

    Written by Marko Hautala

    Narrated by James Patrick Cronin

    3.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    For generations, the urban legend of Granny Hatchet has plagued the quiet residential area of Suvikylä in northern Finland. As the story goes, this immortal killer murders her victims with a hatchet, then buries the hearts in a potato field and eats them after they’ve rotted black. But not everyone is convinced it is just a story.

    Maisa Riipinen has returned to her hometown to complete her dissertation on urban folklore at the same time that Samuel Autio has come home to arrange his father’s funeral. As hazy, disturbing memories from their pasts meld with strange events in the present, Maisa and Samuel attempt to make sense of the town’s fearful obsession with the mythical Granny Hatchet. But if it’s only a legend, then why are people still vanishing without a trace?

    From Finnish author Marko Hautala comes The Black Tongue, a gripping novel about a terrifying story with the power to silence—and the power to make those who dare speak disappear.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBrilliance Audio
    TranslatorJenni Salmi
    Release dateSep 22, 2015
    ISBN9781511311366
    The Black Tongue
    Author

    Marko Hautala

    Marko Hautala’s unique blend of psychological thriller and realism has attracted readers of all genres, earning him a reputation as the Finnish Stephen King. His first novel, Itsevalaisevat (The self-illuminated ones), received the Tiiliskivi Prize, and Käärinliinat (Shrouds) received the Kalevi Jäntti Literary Prize for young authors in 2010. Unikoira (Seeing eyes) was nominated for the Young Aleksis Kivi Prize in 2013.

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    Reviews for The Black Tongue

    3.5/5

    25 ratings2 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Hautala has written some fantastically creepy scenes here, along with some tantalizing connections, terrifying atmosphere, and tremendously horrific images that themselves deserve notice.And yet...I'm honestly not sure how I feel about it. There's no doubt that the beginning and ending were stronger and carried more inertia than the middle of the book. And while I can also see while he chose to structure it as he did, and pull things together as he did, I can't help feeling that the larger impression, while creepy, is also full of chaos. And I'm not sure how much of that chaos is productive vs. accidental.I'd probably have to read the book again to get a real feel for how well I feel it's been put together, and how much of that chaos serves a purpose, but the truth is that none of the characters are sympathetic enough to come close to demanding the book be offered the time for that second read. And when I add in the fact that so much of the on-the-page sex and violence felt as if it was delivered with an eye toward shock value vs. expanding on the story...well, I'm not even sure I really want to explore more of Hautala's work.Perhaps I'll have clearer feelings on the book later and be able to revisit this review. Until then, I'm left thinking there's a lot to admire here, but so much chaos that the book is an experience just so much as a narrative which will have any lasting impact for me, or bring me back to the author for more.
    • 4/5
      I'm not quite sure how to characterize Marko Hautala's The Black Tongue because I'm still not sure exactly what happened to Samuel, Julia, Maisa, and Sagal, each of whom had disturbing encounters with the residents of the mysterious Bondorff Island. The narrative was at times hard to follow because Hautala moves without warning among three different time periods: (1) 2014, when the adult Maisa is recording the Finnish folktale of Granny Hatchet with the help of immigrant teenager Sagal; (2) 2012, when the adult Samuel disappears after returning to his hometown after his father's death; and (3) 1987, when the teenaged Samuel, Julia, and Maisa were neighbors before Maisa moved and Julia vanished. Once I figured out the timeline, however, I was "hooked" on the legend of Granny Hatchet and its real-life underpinnings. (Those who read The Black Tongue will get, and probably groan over, the pun.)Recommended for fans of blended supernatural/crime fiction with elements of Lovecraft and Fringe.I received a free copy of The Black Tongue through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.